Top House Republicans Blast DC Official Responsible for Mail-In Ballot Blunders
Three leading House Republicans sent a letter to the Washington, D.C., Board of Elections expressing their “deep concern” about the city’s “blanket mail-in balloting and the risks it poses to election integrity.”
The Board announced in June that it would send mail-in ballots to every registered voter in the city, a policy that has resulted in numerous reports of ballots being mailed to the wrong people.
“Multiple reports exist of ballots being sent to residences in DC where voters no longer reside, either because they have moved or died,” Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, James Comer of Kentucky and Jody Hice of Georgia wrote in the letter.
“It is unclear whether the DC Board of Elections took any steps to prevent misaddressed ballots from being sent out in the first place,” the letter stated.
“It is unclear when the Board last updated its voter rolls or whether it is currently taking any steps to rectify the current situation.”
The representatives requested “additional information to ensure the DC Board of Elections is taking requisite measures to guard against error or fraud.”
Washington, D.C., residents who have reported receiving incorrect ballots in the mail include Daily Caller reporters Richie McGinniss and Lauryn Overhultz.
McGinnis said he received ballots for three people who haven’t lived at his address in over six years, and Overhultz reported receiving six incorrect ballots.
these official ballots arrived at my old 3-bedroom house in DC. we got 7 ballots total and only 1 was for someone who currently resides at the house pic.twitter.com/QK7FBPYIu0
— Lauryn (@Laurynnboo) October 1, 2020
“The dangers of these administrative errors are obvious: receiving multiple ballots permits individuals to fraudulently cast ballots in place of those for whom they are intended,” the letter read.
“Such a scenario also disenfranchises the voter to whom the ballot was misaddressed.”
Jordan, Comer and Hice railed against chairman Michael Bennett for the Board’s failure to take responsibility for the issue and for placing a “large onus squarely on individual citizens to clean up a mess solely of the Board’s making.”
According to the letter, the Board has offered little guidance to residents on the matter. It did post a tweet in late September directing people to mark any incorrect ballots “Return to Sender” and drop them back in the mail.
A Board of Elections spokesperson also told Fox News that it was telling voters to “do your part” and “don’t take advantage” of any incorrectly mailed ballots.
The Daily Caller News Foundation was unable to locate any such guidance on the Board’s website.
The Board did not immediately return a request for comment.
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A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.
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